BUFFALO — The two highest scoring teams in the MAAC meet in the Koessler Athletic Center Monday night when Canisius hosts Monmouth. These two teams will be closing out the regular-season series for the 2016-17 campaign, as the Hawks scored a 94-88 win over the Golden Griffins back on Dec. 4. That loss is one of Canisius’ two defeats since Thanksgiving.
The Golden Griffins are 12-6 overall and 5-2 after defeating Marist 91-58 Saturday afternoon. The 33-point win over the Red Foxes is the team’s largest margin of victory in a MAAC game since Jan. 16, 2015 when the team beat Siena at home by the score of 83-49. Canisius junior Kassius Robertson scored a career-high 30 points on the power of nine 3-pointers in the win over Marist. Robertson’s 30-point effort comes one game after fellow junior Jermaine Crumpton scored a career best 32 points at Fairfield Jan. 10. This marks the first time since 1967-68 where Canisius has had two different players score 30-or more points in back-to-back games. Robertson became the 36th player in school history to reach 1,000 points for his career in the win over Marist.
This will be the ninth all-time meeting between these two programs in a series that dates back to 2013-14, when Monmouth officially joined the MAAC. Monmouth leads the series 6-2. Canisius won the first meeting between these two schools Jan. 12, 2014, but since then, the Hawks have won six of the last seven contests. The Griffs have won two of the three games between these teams in the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius’ average margin of victory in those two victories is 15 points per game.
Monmouth comes into tonight’s game riding a three-game winning streak. The Hawks are 13-5 overall and 5-2 in MAAC play. Monmouth is coming off a 90-83 win over Niagara on Saturday night. The Hawks are averaging 84.3 points per game in their last three victories. As a team, Monmouth ranks second in the MAAC with his 80.1 points per game scoring average. The team is allowing 75.8 points per game defensively, which ranks fourth-best in scoring defense in the league. Senior Justin Robinson leads the team and ranks fourth in the MAAC in scoring average with his 17.4 points per game. He ranks second in the MAAC with his 5.3 assists per game and he’s tied for second in the conference with his 1.7 steals per outing. Sophomore guard Micah Seaborn ranks second on the roster with his 15.7 points per game, which ranks him 12th in the MAAC in scoring average. Robinson, Seaborn and senior Je’lon Hornbeak have combined to make 132 of Monmouth’s 163 makes from 3-point land this season.
Canisius junior Kassius Robertson scored a career-high 30 points on the power of nine 3-point field goal makes in the team’s 91-58 win over Marist on Saturday. The nine makes from 3-point land tied a school record, previously set by former Griff Alshwan Hymes, who had nine treys against Northwestern State Dec. 29, 2010. Robertson’s nine makes from long-range makes him just the ninth player to MAAC nine triples in a MAAC game in league history. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Robertson became the 36th Griff in program history to reach 1,000 points in his career when he hit a 3-pointer from the win in the second half against Marist. He is the first junior to reach the scoring milestone since Frank Turner did it in 2008-09, and he is just the third Canadian-born player to join the school’s 1,000-point club. Robertson currently ranks fourth in school history with 179 career makes from 3-point land, and he starts tonight’s with multiple 3-point field goals in 51 games as a Griff.
The Griffs will travel to play at Quinnipiac on Friday. Tipoff in Hamden, Conn. is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast online through Quinnipiac’s QU All-Access.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
